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Concerns about microplastics are not new. They’ve been growing for more than a decade. Over the past two years, however, many creative solutions     1     (emerge)to address the problem on a local level, ranging from hoovering beaches to shooting bubbles up from river bottoms. Still, experts say there’s a need for a huge, coordinated effort     2     we want to curb the global issue: The world produces 400 million tons of plastic annually, and much of that material breaks down into tiny pieces that now pollute our planet.

The term microplastics was coined in 2004 by marine ecologist Richard Thompson after he discovered tiny bits of plastic littering British beaches. Since then, scientists have found microplastics—fragments less than 5 millimeters wide-nearly everywhere: in the deep sea, in Arctic ice, in the air. Even inside us.

A 2019 study in Environmental Science Technology estimated humans take in up to 100, 000 bits of plastic each day. It’s not just the physical presence of plastic inside the body     3     poses a potential problem; plastic’s chemical additives might affect different species’ tissues and organs, according to a 2021 study in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. However, there is disagreement in the literature as to how much microplastics     4     (harm)species, including humans. Some say larger pieces may pass right through our bodies while the     5     (tiny)pieces could enter our cells. More research is needed.

For a global view of this vast issue, some scientists in 2020 created a public database to track plastic removal innovations. For example, Hong Kong Polytechnic University researchers presented     6     unique idea in April at the Microbiology Society’s Annual Conference: a bacteria biofilm that could attract and trap microplastics at a wastewater treatment plant,     7     they flow into rivers and oceans.